Hurricane Irene Cruise Impacts | 11 AM, 8/25/11

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CruiseSource has been helping cruisers with their questions and concerns about Hurricane Irene.   The cruise lines just announced itinerary changes and we want to keep you informed.  Updates on the Cruises departing from the Northeast have been announced by Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Carnival Cruise Line announces several changes to Bahamas and Bermuda itineraries including the Carnival Fantasy[see below for details]. For those who are cruising out of the northeast this week, please work closely with your travel agent as things continue to develop.

These are the updates directly from the cruise lines:

Royal Caribbean Updates

Tropical Weather Update
August 25, 2011
10:00 a.m. E.S.T

Royal Caribbean International continues to closely monitor the path and progress of Hurricane Irene to ensure guests enjoy safe and comfortable cruises, and to make certain our ships steer clear of the storm. The safety of our guests and crew is always our foremost concern.

In an abundance of caution, and in order to provide our guests with a safe and comfortable sailing, Explorer of the Seas will depart Cape Liberty, Bayonne, New Jersey, on Saturday, August 27, at 4:00 p.m. – one hour earlier than originally scheduled. We ask that all guests arrive at the pier no later than 3:00 p.m.

At this time, Royal Caribbean has not altered the itineraries of any ship that departs this Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Royal Caribbean will continue to closely monitor weather conditions and will update this information again today, August 25, at 6:00 p.m. E.S.T.

Celebrity Cruise Line Updates:

Tropical Weather Update – (August 25, 2011) – Celebrity Cruises continues to closely monitor the path and progress of Hurricane Irene to ensure guests enjoy safe and comfortable cruises, and to make certain our ships steer clear of the storm. The safety of our guests and crew is always our foremost concern.

UPDATED AT 8:30 PM ET on 8/25: Based on weather forecasts that put Hurricane Irene on track to impact the east coast this weekend, and that the Governors of New Jersey and New York declared a state of emergency, Celebrity Summit  will not be departing Kings Wharf, Bermuda, today at 6:00 p.m.  Instead, the ship will remain in Bermuda until 5:00 p.m. Friday, August 26.  We now anticipate that the ship will arrive in Bayonne, New Jersey, on Monday, August 29.

Because of the ship’s late arrival, Celebrity Summit’s next sailing will now depart on Monday, August 29.  Guests scheduled to sail on the Sunday, August 28, sailing of Celebrity Summit should now arrive at Cape Liberty on Monday between 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.  We also encourage guests on this sailing to continue to monitor these updates for any possible additional modifications. Celebrity Cruises has not altered the itineraries of any other ship that departs today, tomorrow, Saturday or Sunday.

Norwegian Cruise Line

August 24th Update:
Norwegian Gem arrived in Bermuda this morning. The ship will leave Thursday at 6:00 pm, a day earlier than planned, to avoid the path of the storm. Norwegian Gem will arrive in New York on Sunday, August 28 as scheduled.   There is a good chance of the Sunday departure getting pushed back a day.  Stay Tuned.

Carnival Cruise Lines

Hurricane Irene Update – 8/26/11 – 10:00 AM (EST)

CARNIVAL GLORY – 8/27/11

In order to provide a better experience ashore, we have reversed the order of our ports of call. We will now visit Halifax on Monday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Saint John on Tuesday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

CARNIVAL PRIDE – 8/28/11

Since Hurricane Irene is forecasted to affect the north east coast early Sunday morning, the Carnival Pride has been directed by the US Coast Guard to arrive early from the previous cruise and proceed to a secure, alternate location until the storm passes.  Therefore, if the track remains the same, embarkation is scheduled for Monday, August 29th from 10am to 2pm at the Baltimore cruise terminal.  Please be on the lookout for an email from Carnival with additional information.

Hurricane Irene Update – 8/25/11 – 11:00 AM (EST)

We’ve been closely monitoring the forecasted path of Hurricane Irene in the Atlantic and it is now clear the track of the storm will force us to make some changes to our scheduled itineraries. As always, the safety of our guests is our number one concern and our ships will maintain a safe distance from the storm at all times.

Hurricane Irene is expected to pass through the Bahamas today. At this time, we cannot predict whether we will be able to make our scheduled calls in the Bahamas this weekend. Therefore, we have modified the itineraries below, which will allow us to provide guests with a more enjoyable time ashore.

CARNIVAL SENSATION – 8/25/11

We have decided to cancel our visit to Nassau, and instead, will provide an overnight call on the beautiful port of Key West on Friday.

Below is our revised itinerary:

Day Port of Call Arrive Depart
Thu Port Canaveral (Orlando), FL 4:00 PM
Fri Key West, FL 12:00PM overnight
Sat Key West, FL overnight 6:00 AM
Sun Port Canaveral (Orlando), FL 8:00 AM

CARNIVAL FASCINATION – 8/25/11

Since we are unable to determine if Nassau will be ready to receive visitors this Saturday, we have secured the port of Key West as an alternative. We continue to be in touch with the authorities in Nassau and will provide an update to our guests tomorrow. Additionally, we are now scheduled to depart today at 10:30 PM in order for the tide to lower and allow us safe passage though the Dames Point bridge.

Below is our revised itinerary:

Day Port of Call Arrive Depart
Thurs Jacksonville, FL 10:30 PM
Fri Fun Day @ Sea
Sat Possibly Nassau or Key West 7:00 AM 4:00 PM
Sun Fun Day @ Sea
Mon Jacksonville, FL 8:00 AM

CARNIVAL FANTASY – 8/25/11

We are sorry to say that we will be forced to cancel our scheduled call to King’s Wharf, Bermuda, as the route would potentially bring us very close to the path of Hurricane Irene. However, the good news is that we’ve secured the beautiful ports of Key West and Cozumel for your enjoyment

Below is our revised itinerary:

Day Port of Call Arrive Depart
Thu Charleston, SC 4:00 PM
Fri Fun Day @ Sea
Sat Fun Day @ Sea
Sun Cozumel, Mexico 7:00 AM 4:30 PM
Mon Key West, FL 11:30 AM 7:00 PM
Tue Fun Day @ Sea
Wed Charleston, SC 8:00 AM

All sailings departing on or after Friday, August 26, 2011 will continue to operate as scheduled. In the event we need to make a deviation to the itinerary, we will update our guests. Please continue to check back on carnival.com for further updates.

If you have questions about any of these updates please leave them in the comments.

Post written by Rich Tucker, he’s been covering hurricane and tropical storm impacts to cruise itineraries for CruiseSource since 2008 – that’s a long time in internet years.